Performers from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Japan and the Republic of Korea and Vietnam are expected to participate in the second Asian Zither Festival in Hcm city early next month.
The participants will bring their best traditional music to the four-day festival, which aims to keep the music alive.
Several exhibitions and talks by music professors, including Tran Van Khe, will be held.
Khe spent years researching the zither, a traditional multi-stringed instrument.
The zither is known as koto in Japan , kayagum and komungo in Korea and guzheng in Singapore .
Kayagum and komungo are played with the finger-tips while other zithers are played with plectrums.
In Vietnam , it is called dan tranh or dan thap luc (16-chord zither).
Singapore ’s guzheng is similar to Vietnam ’s dan tranh 16-string zither but it is larger and boasts between 18 and 21 cords.
The deep sounds of the kayagum are similar to that produced by Vietnam ’s dan day (with a long neck and three strings, a distant cousin of the guitar) played in cheo (traditional opera).
The host country will highlight the festival with performances by young talents Nguyen Thi Hai Phuong, Pham Tra My and Nguyen Thi Hong Nga, who have all won top awards at local and international music competitions.
One of the country’s leading zitherists, Phuong won the first prize at the National Zither Festival in 1992, and now works as a music teacher at the city’s Music Conservatory.
Artists My and Nga come from the National Music Institute and the Hue Music Institute, both prestigious music schools.
The musicians will perform nha nhac (royal music), cheo and southern Vietnam ’s tai tu traditional music.
While Nha nhac is originally from Hue city , cheo is popular in northern provinces .
In 2000, Phuong and her colleagues opened the first Asian Zither Festival by playing the tai tu traditional piece Duyen Ky Ngo (Marvellous Encounter).
Tai tu music has been popular in south Vietnam since the 19 th century.
”We’re interested in performing and teaching traditional music because we believe the art can connect people around the world,” said veteran zitherist Pham Thuy Hoan, founder of the 27-year-old Sound of the Homeland Club.
Hoan’s club offers training courses and performances, attracting nearly 150 fold singers, dancers and music players, many of them students and young workers.
”We share a love for stringed instruments,” said Hoan, who has organised traditional music exchange programmes between the club and music troupes in Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea and France.
”We will participate in the zither festival because we hope to instill our love of traditional music in audiences,” she said.
The four-day festival will begin at 7:30 pm on September 1 at the Lao Dong (Labour) Cultural House, 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1. Seminars and exchange sessions will be held at the Conservatory of Music, 112 Nguyen Du Street, District 1, Hcm city
(Source:VNA)
Tag: Asia , Exhibition , Festival , Hcm , Hcm City , Hue , International , Japan , Train , Vietnam Asian Zither Festival enlivens HCM City in September
*Related News:
Vietnam Week in Japan promotes mutual understanding
Asian Zither Festival attracts audience
Vietnam Week in Japan to be held
The charm of Nui Coc Lake
Vietnam Week in Japan to be held
Colorful rice offering from Can Tho takes the cake
Vietnam Airlines to lower extra paymen
Diving deep down
Asian Zither Festival finishes in HCM City
Folk games entertain children